Vehicon

Vehicons are a group of Cybertronians who serve as the foot soldiers of the Decepticons. There are four different versions of this type of drone: The ground-based Vehicons are the standard foot soldier who turn into a black and purple sports car. The second ground units are called Miner class who possess a lighter purple and black color scheme with duel optics who do not see action in combat as often, though the nature of their alt mode is unknown. The first air-based Vehicon share their color scheme with the foot soldiers, but transform into Cybertronian jets. The second flyers, called Seekers, are physically the same, but have their own unique silver, white and black color scheme.

Contents

History

Creation

The Vehicons' origins are shrouded in mystery but they have been seen as far back as the early days of the great war on Cybertron. Though they have been described by Starscream as "drones" they do appear sentient, what exactly separates them from a normal Transformer, if anything is currently unknown. Though the way Starscream spoke, the term may simply be a kind of insult for low-ranking soldiers.

The Great War

However the group was formed, they were used in almost every Decepticon battle to date.

Capture of Arcee/Airachnid's service

Several Vehicons were seen under the command of Decepticon Airachnid and assisted in capturing Arcee. They later captured her partner Tailgate who Airachnid soon after killed. However before Arcee was to suffer the same fate, she was saved by Cliffjumper and Bumblebee who destroyed the Vehicons. It is unknown if these are actually Vehicons. Most likely, they are just generic Decepticons and the series creators used the Vehicon model to be the Decepticons because it would be easier than using new Decepticon models.

Earth

Attack on Cliffjumper

As Cliffjumper spotted an energon deposit, several Vehicons moved in to attack him. During the battle, they easily overpowered and outclassed the lone Autobot before taking him back to the Nemesis, where he was killed by Decepticon commander Starscream.
For the bulk of Megatron's campaign on Earth they were used as miners, field agents, muscle and were always blaster fodder with one shot normally being sufficient to kill them. At some point Starscream created an elite subgroup of Vehicons as his armada. Despite this they too were killed very easily.

Terrorcon Apocalypse/Airachind's Return

After one of Knock Out's experiments with synthetic energon, CYLAS freed himself and ran amok aboard the Nemesis. Threatening to turn all the Vehicons into Terrorcon's take over the Decepticon ship. With help from the Insecticons, the Vehicons were able to defeat there infected compatriots, but over half of the Decepticons' remaining Vehicon troops were lost in the outbreak before it was fully neutralized.

Fall of Megatron/Decepticons dissolved

After the Autobots stormed the Decepticon warship and captured it, many Vehicons fled in escape pods to parts unknown. Those that did not reach an escape pod had the choice of either defecting or staying true to their cause. Many chose to defect to the Autobots and worked with Bulkhead to rebuild Cybertron, including Steve. However they proved equally incompetent at construction as in combat, with three of them falling off a building when they became messed up on which parts went where, and in which order. The few that did not defect were kept in the Nemesis brig with Knock Out. When Starscream showed up he told them all about Unicron's rise and his plan to retake the ship and fly away from Cybertron to somewhere safe from the chaos-bringer. When they tried to take the bridge, all Vehicons allied with Starscream were killed in the fight. While not seen, the Vehicons who had been assigned to the construction efforts may been told to evacuate for their own safety.

Physical Appearances

Trooper

Troopers appear with a slick thin body with a purple color scheme.
They have wheels on the side of both they're shoulders from they're alt modes. They have Chrome colored heads with a red optic visor.

Decepticon Miner

The miners have a slightly different appearance to Vehicons. they have a lighter purple paint job, they're heads are purple instead of Chrome and they have two red optic visors instead of one.

Flyer

The flyers look just like the troopers except the flyers have wings on they're backs and they don't have wheels on their shoulders and legs due to being a flyer.

Seeker (Second Flyer)

Seekers look exactly like flyers, the only thing different is the paint job that is silver the head is black instead of Chrome and red highlights.

Steve

One of them is called Steve, he is an ordinary Vehicon Trooper who often fails at his work. The fans named this Vehicon, since the Vehicons don't have real names in the show. They are referred by "Vehicon troopers". He has the unique ability to change between the 4 different Vehicon body types (Car, Jet, Miner, Seeker).

Trivia

Vehicons were not called as such until Plus One only being referred to as "the drones" or "troopers".

In Predacons Rising, most Vehicons helped rebuild one of Cybertron's buildings, but failed. This was very humorous to the fans.

Vehicons speak in most episodes.

It is likely that there were as many as 3,000 to 5,000 Vehicons stationed on the Nemesis, given as to how many of them were killed off in Season 1 and 2, yet it isn't until Thirst that they are stated to be depleted. However the amount is never confirmed in the show. Given how many could be fielded in a single episode (at least 30 or even 40) and the fact that dozens (most likely death count is 25 to 60) the later count of 5,000 is more likely to be correct. This is further proven after Thirst where a significant amount were used to lure the Autobots to the laboratory in Evolution, and the large amount of men used in Minus One and Persuasion. They also made somewhat of an effort in Synthesis to battle Optimus and contain Predaking. There were enough to battle the Autobots for a significant amount of time in Deadlock, and the remnants were able to hold the Autobots at gunpoint until they were distracted.

Many fans have come up with a description for a Vehicon that (according to a few weird fans has a major crush on Starscream) and has appeared in several of the episodes in which there is a Vehicon, even the ones where all Vehicons are killed. The fans have named him Steve, or ST3V3.

Starscream says they are highly trained in Thirst. This indicates that most, if not all of them are veterans. However though their fighting style in Season 1 following the mini series is pathetic as they easily distracted, shoot themselves by accident, tricked very easily, are pathetic shots, frequently incompetent and very frequently leave themselves open. This is especially shown in Stronger Faster where they have Arcee dead to rights yet they wait 50 seconds to pull the trigger. When Ratchet beats them down, none of them think to grab the helpless Arcee and use her as a hostage. They are essentially the same in Season 2. However, though they are significantly more competent in Thirst capable of engaging in a gunfight with the Autobots and fighting them in close quarters combat for a while. They made a good effort to counter Predaking and they did manage to fight for a significant amount in Deadlock. However, though their incompetence returned in Predacons Rising when Bumblebee distracted them allowing the last of them to be killed. Yet it wasn't stated that those were the last soldiers.

Megatron cannot distinguish between the Vehicons that turn into cars and the ones that turn into jets.

Like Soundwave and a few other Cybertronians, Vehicons can twist their arms to fold them across their chests even though the attachments of the elbow joints of their arms do not seem to allow that.